Columbia Closings   What's not in Columbia anymore

Here's another vacant Cricket Wireless storefront, this one in Topspin Plaza in Lexington.

I noticed as I was getting the pictures that Topspin Plaza actually has two marquees and street addresses. I'm not sure if they are separate developments or not, but the other is at 5341 Sunset Boulevard:

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

I noticed the other weekend that this Broad River Road gas and convenience store, which was a Circle K when I originally did a closing on it, has now reflagged again, dropping the El Cheapo branding for CK Mart.

It does not appear that they did any digging or construction this time.

Beads & Yarn was the follow-on operation in this Sunset Boulevard location to Firefly Toys & Games. They apparently had quite a selection of knitting and crocheting yarn, and jewelry beads. The owners retired and closed the store in February, but still have a web site here, and do business online at Amazon.

(Hat tip to commenter James R)

As mentioned in Have Your Say, all Columbia area Harveys supermarkets are closing. You can tell how dire the trouble the parent chain is in by the fact that they spent a lot of money rebranding these stores from Bi-Lo to Harveys less than two years ago. I did not do a closing on this location as a Bi-Lo at that time, so I'm including it in the post title and Alphabetical Closings now.

At this time, none of Columbia's remaining Bi-Lo locations are closing, but that is probably another shoe waiting to drop. The full list of closing stores across both nameplates and over all affected states is here.

Nothing Held Back

Well, continuing the story from the Toys 'Я' Us post, this is the same thing but in a more advanced stage. The Babies "Я" Us closeout sale has been going since February and is now in the end stages, if this WLTX story is still current.

One thing I didn't mention in the Toys closing is that both business units share a common problem on top of everything else: The US, other Western nations and Japan are currently in a "baby bust" situation. That means even if they could regain their former appeal to the customer base, the customer base itself is shrinking, or as the Four Seasons once said Bye, Bye, Baby, Goodbye!

(Hat tip to commenter Andrew I think)

UPDATE 15 June 2023 -- Now Hobby Lobby:

Also adding map icon.

So fare there are no signs advertising big closings savings at the Toys 'R' US Columbiana Mall outparcel site in Harbison, but it's just a matter of time as the firm officially threw in the towel last week and says it will not emerge from bankruptcy.

I missed the golden age of Toys 'R' Us, and in fact don't think I've ever been into a store. For us, the big thing was the Sears Christmas Wishbook with wonders on every page, here's an appreciation from someone who was not too old for the golden age, along with some reminders that Toys 'R' Us has been in and out of trouble for a long time.

The funny thing is that while TRU doesn't sell as many toys as it used to, it still sells a *lot* of toys, and you have to wonder how bad the debts must be if you have bankruptcy protection and can't come up with a viable plan for the way forward while you are still selling lots of toys.

A few links:

According to CNN, the timing of closing sales and the final closing have yet to be determined.

A trademark collector may be bringing KB Toys back as popup stores due to the TRU bankruptcy.

Amazon may buy some of the stores though I wouldn't hold my breath for the Columbia area.

I have to say this store does not look appealing to me. It looks a bit run down, boxy and not 'fun'. I realize there are limits to what you can do with stodgy Columbia codes, but to me something like *this* says TOY STORE!

And finally, thanks, guys, for that whole backwards 'Я' thing. Not.

Well, it's official, Cromer's has made the move from Huger to North Main. I was in this, Huger Street, location once several years ago to purchase a helium baloon kit, and it seemed fairly nice to me -- certainly better than the Bluff Road location I was at for the same reason several years before.

I tried to get some pictures of the new location, but the ongoing road construction on North Main had a steam shovel completely blocking the entrance to the new building -- the tenants can't have been too happy about that. For that reason, I can't confirm that there are no monkeys. You'll have to check yourself.

UPDATE 30 October 2023 -- Updating tags and adding map icon.

I noticed this empty Food Fare north of the Wal-Mart on Dutch Fork Road today. I'm not actually sure of the closing date, but it hasn't been closed long enough to be completely stripped inside or for the pumps to either be taken up or vandalized yet long enough for the carwash to have been tagged. I'm just going to say '2017' unless someone knows different.

I don't know what the issue for it was, but I do note that it's a little hard to get in and out of as the suicide lane goes away at this point in Dutch Fork and traffic can be pretty heavy.

I noticed last weekend that this old-school used appliance store at the corner of Two Notch and McFadden was closed. Kind of a shame because the old stuff was better made than the new stuff in many cases.

Havertys recently moved their Colonial Life Boulevard store to Harbison. I think the move added a bit of size to that store, and perhaps they think one larger store is enough, but whatever the reason, the Two Notch Road store near the I-20 interchange in Dentsville is now closing.

As a side note, the old Ramada Inn property almost directly across the street remains vacant after almost eight years..

(Hat tip to commenter Mike)